Fiber reinforced thermoplastics are generally used for producing shaped articles having stable mechanical properties, in particular by means of injection molding. The fiber reinforcement in the thermoplastics used is predominantly short glass, i.e. glass fiber up to about 500 .mu.m in length.
The recycling of used articles or production scrap comprising short glass fiber reinforced thermoplastics customarily comprises comminution and re-forming/shaping, for example by injection molding. However, the reprocessing has an adverse effect on the mechanical properties of the thermoplastic materials, since the fiber lengths and also the fiber distribution change (cf. Chemical Abstracts Vol. 91 (1979), 158 641 y).
The reprocessed material is therefore predominantly re-used for purposes where the mechanical properties are not critical. It is also known to add further fillers, for example sawdust (DE-A-4 016 410), or binders such as novolaks (EP 0 518 004).
The present invention has for its object to develop a process for recycling short glass fiber reinforced thermoplastics whereby the recyclate (e.g. used articles or production scrap) can again be shaped into articles having mechanical properties which are at least equal to those of the virgin product.